WI vs AUS 1st T20I match prediction 9 Jul 2021

WI vs AUS 1st T20I Predictions & Betting Tips

West Indies and Australia are playing out a five-match T20I series. The first T20 international of the series is being hosted at The Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet in St Lucia on July 9, Friday. I have handpicked three of the best betting tips from the WI vs AUS 1st T20I match prediction.

Australia are set to face the West Indies in their own den in a total of eight white-ball matches. The Kieron Pollard-led West Indies recently managed to lose the T20I series against South Africa concluded on July 3rd. The five-match series went down the wire and the Porteas came trumps in the decider. The white-ball matches will serve as a chance for the teams to fine tune their preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in UAE later this year. However, Australia will miss the services of several of their first-choice players like , Steven Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Jhye Richardson who have been pulled out of the tour due to various reasons.

On the other hand the West Indies side is shaping up well with the likes of Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons to name a few returning for the international setup. Meanwhile Australia will be playing their second T20I match this season after their five match T20 series against New Zealand where they lost by 3-2 in February. However here are the top three betting tips from the WI vs AUS 1st T20I match prediction.

WI vs AUS Player Bets:

Some of the key players from the Australian squad will be missing out from the upcoming tournament. However the oddsmakers have offered a handful of player bets to choose from. Take a look at the top three WI vs AUS match predictions.

Aaron Finch To Score Over 23.5 Runs

The top-order batsman of Australia ascended to become Australia's permanent T20I and ODI captain. He has twice held the record for the highest scores in T20I. His career best 178 made against Zimbabwe in 2018 surpassing his 156 against England in 2013. Finch is an in-demand T20 cricketer who has played for several franchises. In the five match series recently played against New Zealand, Finch scored above 23 runs in three of these innings. His scores were - 36, 79*, 69, 12 and 1. Over a years time, the 34-year-old Australian batter has emerged as the top T20I batter for his team. He has amassed 357 runs from 10 innings at an average of 39.66

The right-handed batsman has so far only played two matches against West Indies. From the 30 away matches that Finch has been a part of, the captain has 1255 runs to his name at 46.44. In the 2021 calendar year, Finch has played 5 matches and scored 197 runs with a current average of 49.25. Finch averages 37.48 from 44 matches representing Australia as a captain and piled 1462 runs. Dafabet.com has offered betting odds of 1.87 for Aaron Finch to score over 23.5 runs in the WI vs AUS 1st T20I match.

Evin Lewis To Score Over 23.5 Runs

The second bet is for an attacking left-handed batsman of West Indies, Evin Lewis. He has a reputation of hitting big in any format of cricket. In the recently concluded five-match T20i series against South Africa, Lewis has scored - 52, 7 , 27, 21 and 71. The top batter of West Indies will be playing his first T20I series against Australia in his career. Lewis made his debut in the T20I format in 2016 against Afghanistan. Since then the left-handed batsman has played 40 matches for the Windies with 1167 runs to his name. Under the captaincy of Kieron Pollard, Lewis has played 17 T20I matches and stacked 520 runs which averages at 34.66. Lewis has played 29 innings in the second position and has gathered 890 runs from them at 32.96. He holds a decent record playing at his home ground as well, where he has amassed 652 runs from 21 matches. The last of which was played against South Africa.

WI vs AUS Team Bets:

The oddsmakers have offered winner odds in favour of Australia and so are some of the other team bets. However I have fished out that one top team bet from WI vs AUS match predictions.

Evin Lewis To Score More Runs Than Chris Gayle

Last but not the least we have the top two players from the Windies squad - Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. Although Gayle is a stalwart in the limited-overs cricket, his recent scores are abysmal, hence the 29-year-old batter, Evin Lewis has stolen the thunder here. In the recent outing against South Africa, Gayle had gone on to score 11, 5, 8 and 32* in the four matches played, Lewis on the other hand played all the five T20I matches and scored 52, 7, 27, 21 and 71 runs respectively.

Adding on to the fact that Evin Lewis is the top T20I run scorer for West Indies over a years time. In the 2021 calendar year, Gayle has played 7 T20I matches to only score 85 runs at a very poor average of 14.16, whereas Evin Lewis has played 8 matches this calendar year and made 233 runs at 29.12. Lewis even holds a better record of playing on home soil. He has come out to bat in 21 home innings and amassed 652 runs at a decent average of 34.31. Chris Gayle has played 21 home innings and made 372 runs at 18.60. Bet365.com has offered betting odds of 1.80 for Evin Lewis to score more runs than Chris Gayle in the WI vs AUS match prediction.